Flying Ants

SilverEternity

I just walked into our dining room (which we rarely use and/or go in to) and there were 100+ flying ants on the window. I have a somewhat irrational fear of ants. I'm really freaking grossed out and anxious. I'm not sure where to begin. Has anyone had this happen? How much does it cost to have someone come in and spray? How long does it take and do I have to be home when they do the inspection? Are there alternatives and/or is there something I can do right now?

There has been the occasional ant for the past couple weeks and I set out ant traps and sprayed them when I saw them; this is terrible. I don't think they are termites based on their body shape, but I don't know for sure.

Robman

An exterminator should be able to give you a quote for free.

UrQuanLord88

In my limited exposure to ants in the tropics, I have learned that they are very similar to bees. Flying ants are just the reproductive males and females of ants. Once they mate, males die off and females lose their wings and settle down to set up another ant colony. This is a mating season thing and shouldn't occur too often.

In other words, you have an ant colony nearby and if you hate ants that much, just get an exterminator to find and eradicate them. If not, just don't leave food lying out in the open and keep up on cleanliness. Don't give them an excuse to come into your house. The occasional ant is probably just a scout, foraging for food.

cr0w

Swarmer (flying) ants inside are typically indicative of there being a nest somewhere in/around the house, so you'll have to try to figure out where it is and treat it that way.

Contrary to popular belief, leaving food out and generally being clean won't encourage/discourage ants. If they want in your house, they'll come in. Regardless of the presence of food, they will forage. That's what they do.

There are a few ways to deal with them, but one thing to completely avoid is spraying them with anything. That will kill the ones you see, obviously, but the problem is for every ant you see there are dozens you don't in the nest, and they'll take the place of the ones you kill. You will either have to use bait (which varies depending on the type of ant you're dealing with) or dust for them in the cracks/crevices/weepholes/etc. using Boric Acid, which is a fine white powder that sticks to the inside of your walls via static electricity and is pumped in using hand-held dusters. It usually works best in conjunction with a liquid bait, which you can also find at almost any store. Terro Liquid Baits are good. Place a pea-sized drop near the opening of the cracks you dust and the ants will be attracted to it and track through the boric acid, taking both it and the bait back to the nest.

Boric acid is completely harmless to you and pets (though don't go inhaling it or anything), and kills the ants by attaching to their exoskeletons and boring its way in, basically suffocating them. It's a common ingredient in toothpaste, detergent and other stuff. If you're squeamish about poisons in the house, it works fine on its own.

One thing you never, ever want to do is let an exterminator spray inside the house. It does not get to the source of the problem, and is basically a placebo. It will kill any bugs that happen to wander over your floorboards and such, but that's not where your problem lies. It's also residual so if you walk around barefooted, you'll get it on you, as well as your pets/spouse/kids/whatever. Also broadcast spraying in the house leaves fine droplets in the air for a few hours, so you'll be inhaling it as well. This is commonly ignored by pest control techs, as it's easier to walk through the house for 10 minutes and spray, which is visually satisfying to customers, but not much else. Any good one will dust and apply bait to deal with pretty much any bug problem you have.

Hope this helps. I've been in pest control since '07 and have picked up numerous tips and tricks over the past few years that most pest control techs won't even mention because they want to be in and out as quickly as possible.

Killgrimage

When we discovered a swarm outside our ground window one day, my husband simply made up a soapy mixture of water and sprayed it all over them. This killed a bunch of them and the rest got pissed and flew away (I don't think they can attack). You could try this before bringing in an expensive exterminator (or have a good friend spray them for you since you are phobic.)

Skoal Cat

Could be termites?